Pick one by tonight and until January 2015

M

mudguard

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Aug 2, 2013
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So you are a simple office rat.. If you were at a store and had to pick one knife to carry.. which one would it be?
I am contemplating making a year long commitment to one of these 3 fellows but debating on which one. Here is my perspective and their history.

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The Buck 371
This little fellow was what got me into traditionals. While it is a great little knife I am not quite sure about the saber grind. It seem to me that this grind would affect the way it cuts. I know this is probably a silly assumption as it has never had any issue cutting things for me in the past. There is just something about it.. I'm sure I could be persuaded by someone with a case for them being this way agains the flater ground of Case or Camillus made buck knives.


Case Medium Stockman
This is a knife that I wanted for quite some time. Once I got it I loved the scales, the sheepsfoot blade and the versatility of it. However, I find I use the sheepsfoot blade 90% of the time.. and because of that the rest of the knife (besides serving as a handle) seems like it is "extra". The esthetics of it are probably the ones I like the most out of all of them but for some reason I can't seem to settle with it.


Case Peanut
This little fellow is a great little knife. It was a christmas gift from my wife and I really love it. However, I sometimes feel under equiped when carrying it around. Specially when having to cut fruit for lunch.. I know it is silly but every day I look into my knife box the stockman sort of yells at me saying "I could do better than the peanut!" but then again this knife disappears in my pocket until needed. It is the most confortable to carry but the lack of any weight to it keeps me thinking about it and consciously afraid I will lose it (even with a bandana over it).


Keep in mind I keep a Victorinox Pioneer in my backpack or briefcase for those handyman moments in a man's life.. also keep in mind I live in Canada so I don't want to raise any attention when using my knife. This is why I keep these 3 or smaller knives as my options.
 
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I have two of those. The Case is the same one that you have. I've carried as my EDC around the house for 6 months and it has done everything I've wanted it to do.
The second choice would be the Buck. I just like the three blade stockmans.

Good luck, Tom
 
Me personally, of those three I'd carry the Case Med Stockman. I'm an office worker, and my daily carry is a SAK Alox Cadet (which you have covered with the Pioneer) and a Case knife in the general size range of your Stockman. In fact I have two Stockman knives, a 6318 like yours, and a 63032, that saw plenty of carry last year. I could easily commit to either of them as a year long carry (along with the Cadet) and be content.

I have a yellow Case Peanut like yours but when I want to carry a tiny knife, it's usually in addition to others, and I go with a Case 63033 Small Stockman for the extra versatility.

My Buck 303 (similar I believe to your 371, but made in US and with better steel) is a nice knife and finds more use for me in specific handyman chores around the house. More of a weekend jeans knife than a workday slacks knife.
 
I don't care for Bucks saber grind myself, they don't cut as well as the flat grinds IMHO. The peanut is a great little knife but I also feel that it gets lost sometime in my pocket. It also falls a little short for lunch duty sometimes.
I suspect a lot of folks use the sheeps foot the most on a stockman but they other blades are handy as well. The master clip is great for peeling apples and cutting sandwiches in half and the Spey can be very useful as well. I keep my Spey blades razor sharp for emergency or fine detail cutting. My Grandad always left the Spey on his stockman dull and used it as a scraper blade or dirty deeds blade. I would choose the Case stockman.

Jim
 
If it's going to be a long-term commitment to just one knife, I'd go with the Case stockman. I think it will give you the most versatility.
 
If working in an office means wearing dress pants (vs. jeans), I'd choose the peanut.

-- Mark
 
From your choices, Med. stockman for me. I tend to like larger, and though I have a peanut, it rarely gets carried. Being that the peanut was a gift from the wife, I'd feel that it would be good to keep it for special occasions, or just for Sunday-go-to-meeting type of carry.

Of the knives I own, if only one, I'd pick either this year's or last year's Forum Knife, GEC Congress Jack, or GEC Large trapper w/ wharncliff.
 
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If I was to have to choose I would pick the Case stockman. Second choice would be the Buck. I prefer the size of a the stockmans more and really feel the peanut is too small for a lot of what I use a knife for. I would feel very limited to be stuck with the peanut all the time. The only reason I would pick the case over the buck is I prefer the amber bone to the wood scales and I like the flat grind blade better.
 
For me it is the Peanut all the way!

Several reasons:
1. Light enough to carry in everything from Bermudas over Jeans to Dress Pants
2. Can do everything I need in an office environment
3. I, personally, strongly dislike the Stockman Pattern, mostly for aesthetical reasons ;)
 
If I understand this right, you are suburban/urban office worker, and Monday through Friday are in dress pants or at least Dockers. Do you live in a suburban/urban area with weekend forays out to the rural/ country area?

If I were living a more rural lifestyle, I'd go with the stockman. But it sounds like you're not. I know when I got home from the army and lived in the greater suburbia, my knives went down in size when they got replaced, which admittedly was rare. I went down from a 3 7/8th stockman to a 3 1/4 stockman, and then to a peanut. If I go out to the country hiking, camping, canoeing, I have another knife along. Usually an un-folding one. My peanut does well as a edc pocket knife. In fact, this past fall, the better half andI did a 5 week around the country road trip, and while I had a sheath knife on hand in my bag, the peanut did everything I need except for food use. Even then, it did some jobs. French bread, cheese, sausage, opening plastic packages. From your description of having a Vic Pioneer unhand as backup in your pack, it sounds like a peanut will be all you need. And if you are looking for a non intimidating little office knife, I can't think of a more people friendly knife than a yella 'nut.

Yeah, the yella peanut.

Carl, Grand High Muckba with a highly prejudiced view.:)

Edit to add; The fact that you have a Victorinox pioneer in your bag, is a very deciding factor. The pioneer, one of the most bomb proof pocket knives on the planet, is very capable in it's own right of being a sole edc. Combined with a peanut, I can't think of anything that you can't handle, knife wise. Great combo.
 
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Case stockman. Better steel, more useful size, better looking covers, round bolsters.
 
So so far here is the tally.. Come on ladies and gentlemen help me make a decision by the end of today. Will report on the progress for the rest of the year on which ever knife I end up carrying. I'll give it until 10pm my time so here is the count down everyone!

T minus 9 hours and the tally is..

Buck: 3
Case M. Stockman: 8
Peanut: 4

Lets see who can make the strongest argument for their choice.
 
Another vote for the Peanut.

You already have a larger knife in your backpack if needed. The Peanut is smaller making it more office friendly in both carry & use.
 
Well, of your choices, the peanut.

While i love the stockman's reputation and history, i cannot help but look at mine and think, thats just too many blades :p

Of course, i think you should invest in a texas jack, same blade/scales as your case stockman, but without the extra (unnecessary) blade :D
 
Depends on how often you want to be going to the Pioneer. Any of the three will work. The Pioneer alone will work. Since you already own them and are familiar with them, you are the best judge.
 
I say just keep the pioneer in your pocket.
But if I had to chose, it would probably be the buck.
It looks the best IMO, and I like the easy snap they have, also the straight blades I find preferable to krinked.
 
I used to have a texas jack and used it from time to time. I prefer the round bolsters though. I do love the blade combination of the texas jack and that combination pen blade is fantastic. The only thing is that I find that the medium stockman fits a back up blade in the same frame without adding much weight, where the texas jack sort of wasted the space.. I would love a medium stockman with the same main blade as the texas jack though that to me would be the best medium size.


Rsmith_77 said:
Well, of your choices, the peanut.

While i love the stockman's reputation and history, i cannot help but look at mine and think, thats just too many blades :p

Of course, i think you should invest in a texas jack, same blade/scales as your case stockman, but without the extra (unnecessary) blade :D
Click to expand...
 
mudguard said:
...I would love a medium stockman with the same main blade as the texas jack though that to me would be the best medium size.
Click to expand...
The 63032 Stockman has the same main blade as the Small Texas Jack, and is one the same square-bolster serpentine frame. From what I can see in most pictures of actual knives, the 6318 in Pocket Worn Old Red Bone has the "normal" clip like on the Texas Jack, rather than the slim California clip on the other 6318s. However, that's a stainless steel pattern and you seem to prefer the CV.
 
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